Stevenage FC v Grimsby Town FC

THE MANAGER STEVE EVANS

All photos by Jim Steele unless otherwise stated

“Thank you for your support all season!”

CHAIRMAN PHIL WALLACE

Good afternoon and welcome to the players and officials of Grimsby Town.

Our opponents today had a simply incredible run in the FA Cup this year, surpassing even our own achievements, which were in themselves incredible. But today, it’s all about the League table at 5pm.

I decided at the start of the season that I’d write the notes for the last game of the season, but I didn’t for one moment think we’d have such an exciting Saturday in store. I mean, look at the four teams in contention with us for the two promotion places left… you couldn’t pick more challenging fixtures. Bradford away at Northampton. Carlisle play Salford who are fighting to stay in the play-off places, and Stockport play the league champions, Orient. Wow… that’s just pure drama… There’s tension in each of those games and ours will be no different. Everyone in each of those stadiums will be checking their phones to see the results of these four games, but the secret to success here is to keep a cool head and do everything the same as we’d normally do it. Winners find a way to win, and that’s the natural order of things.

Our lads came back from Swindon with three points to set up a fantastic Saturday afternoon, and the reaction from the local community was instant. We sold out this game by Wednesday morning with the restricted numbers of 90% capacity placed by the Safety Advisory Group on our new North Stand and the East Terrace reached in record time. There will therefore be no tickets on sale on the day of the game – home or away. The last home game of the season is always a great afternoon, with Player of the Year announcements due after the game, so stay behind if you can. No doubt you’ve got your favourites, but to be fair, this season has been a team effort –orchestrated masterfully by Steve, Raynes,

Revs, Leon and everyone involved in the operation of our First Team. Personally, I’d like to award everyone as I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the season and to be in contention for automatic promotion with two games to go is so very different from the previous few seasons we’ve had. I’m not going to comment on where the results land – but I’ve seen first-hand the commitment from our lads to get to this position, and the mental strength we’ve shown to be at the top all season has been admirable.

As I said earlier, winners find a way to win when they need to, and that’s why I’m backing our lads, along with over 6,000 home fans competing to see who can shout the loudest to drive us on! What a treat we have in store - enjoy the game!

MATCHDAY TIMINGS

CLUB SHOP: 11:30am – 3pm

TICKET OFFICE: Midday – 3.15pm (Collections/Queries ONLY)

THE BROADHALL SUITE: Midday – KickOff & Full-Time - 8pm (Home & Away supporters)

THE 76 LOUNGE: Midday – Kick-Off (Home & Away supporters) Half-Time (North Stand Ticket Holders) Full-Time –8pm (Home & Away supporters)

TURNSTILES: 1:15pm

TICKET INFO

STEVENAGE VS GRIMSBY TOWNSATURDAY 29TH APRIL - SOLD OUT

North Stand – SOLD OUT

West Stand – SOLD OUT

East Terrace – SOLD OUT

No tickets will be sold on the day –Home or Away - for Saturday’s final home game of the season, so if you do not have a ticket, please do not travel. For those with seat tickets, we recommend arriving at the stadium earlier than usual to ensure you are seated in your allocated seat.

THE GAME

The Stevenage FC Supporters Association coach will be departing The Lamex Stadium at 4:30am on the day of the game, with tickets costing £20 for SA members and £25 for non-members. To book a seat, visit www.sfcsa.co.uk/ home/travel

TICKETS & TRAVEL: BARROW AFC

Steve Evans’ men make the 542-mile round trip to Holker Street to take on Pete Wild’s Bluebirrds on at 12:30pm on Monday 8th May.

Tickets are available online at www. borotickets.co.uk , from the Stevenage FC Club Shop and from Holker Street on the day of the game (£1 increase).

CLIVE ABREY: A TRUE BORO’ SERVANT

Boro’s long-serving Commercial Manager Clive Abrey has announced he will be stepping into retirement at the end of the season after almost thirty years at the Club…

Chairman Phil Wallace said, “His service to the Club is without equal and it’s my absolute pleasure to offer him a Life Vice Presidency position at Stevenage Football Club. Clive will join a select few that have dedicated decades of their life to the Club.

Thank you Clive, for your dedication and for the memories created”.

@StevenageFC

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FOCUS

As its the last home game and the end of my second season as DSLO, I just wanted to say what a pleasure it has been to see more disabled supporters at the Lamex each week.

Our viewing platforms are regularly full at both ends of the North stand and we also have many ambulant disabled supporters in both the North and West stand. It has been lovely to get to know you all as the weeks have gone by and I hope that we will continue to grow as a football supporter family next season.

So many travel to all of the away games, no matter how far away they are…in fact one of our supporters Javed Latif hasn’t missed one home or away game this season and Samantha Ross travels all the way from Cheshire to watch our home games!! That is amazing!

It was an absolute joy to welcome students from St Albans Oakland College and the Leyden House Allstars for the first time this season and they now attend on a regular basis.

We had a joyful day when the Purple Allstars performed a wonderful and powerful performance on the pitch in February for Level Playing Fields Unite For Access campaign.

And who could possibly forget Archie Riley who beamed with joy and excitement when he led the first team out on to the pitch and then to get over 40k views on Twitter was mind blowing! A day he and his family will never forget!

I also wanted to remember the lovely supporters that we lost this season, Howard Ryder and Jeff Smith. They were both regular supporters for many years and have been truly missed by us all but very fondly remembered.

I hope you all have a lovely summer break and look forward to seeing you all again next season!!

ALEX POTTER DSLO

Archie Riley Leyden Allstars

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Samantha Ross Oaklands College

Purple Allstars Howard Ryder

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MATCHDAY MASCOTS

And so it all boils down to today! It’s our last scheduled home game at The Lamex in what has been a remarkable season and we have no less than five mascots who are hoping they will bring the combined luck which will be enough to clinch the vital three points. Our first big hello goes to Jimmy HarrisYetts, 12, who attend Monks Walk School and lives in Welwyn GC. Jimmy’s hobby is football and his favourite Boro player is Terence Vancooten. Next up we say hi to Harry Forshew who is five-years-old and attends William Ransom Primary School in Hitchin. Harry, who

lives in Hitchin lists football, swimming, gymnastics and playing FIFA as his hobbies and his top Boro star is Jordan Roberts.

Sammy Forshew, 7, also attends William Ransom in Hitchin and also lists football, gymnastics, swimming and playing FIFA as his hobbies. Sammy’s favourite player is Dan Sweeney.

Our penultimate mascot for today is Elijah Dinsey. Elijah has just celebrated his 10th birthday and attends Peartree School in Stevenage. His hobby is playing football and his favourite Boro player is our very own Luke Norris. Our final hello goes to Taylor Packer who is 12 and attends Marriotts School in Stevenage. Taylor lists gaming and football as his hobbies and Luke Norris is his top Boro star. We trust they all have a great day with us and leave with some lasting memories and three big points for the Boro cause.

INTERACTIVE BORO QUIZ!

This is it, fingers crossed our last interactive quiz of the season, so in the spirit of hope, five things you may, or may not remember, about promotion clinching days of the past.

Jimmy Harris-Yetts Harry Forshew

Sammy Forshew Elijah Dinsey Taylor Packer

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Stevenage had experienced a mixed start to their 2018/19 campaign, picking up 12 points from their opening eight matches but they were looking to inflict a fourth straight loss on Grimsby who had only claimed one victory since the season’s start in August.

The first chance of the game fell to winger Emmanuel Sonupe, whose shot appeared destined for the back of the net if it wasn’t for Luke Hendrie’s sliding intervention. Stevenage continued to have the majority of chances in the game, but frustratingly let the opportunities continue to slip away as Alex Revell failed to head in a cross

that was beautifully swung in by Steve Seddon.

It was a new half but the same story for Emmanuel Sonupe as Danny Newton’s shot was parried into Sonupe’s path, however he once again was denied by a defender just as the ball was about to ripple the net.

Boro’ continued to come close to breaking the deadlock, with little reply or resistance from their out of form visitors. However, eventually the home side did have their well-deserved opener as Danny Newton worked his way into the six-yard box, cutting the ball back for teammate Steve Seddon to turn into what was an unguarded Grimsby goal.

ON THIS DAY: 29 APRIL

It’s a definite smorgasbord of outcomes to look back on this day; Boro’ having played seven times on 29 April before –returning four wins, one draw and two defeats. If the adage that you’re only as good as your last game is true, then we could do with an uptick in fortunes too. You’ll have to go back three games and 23 years for our last win on this day. In 2006, Boro’ found ourselves in a deja vu situation.

We’d gone into the final day of the previous campaign needing a win (and some help from Tamworth) to get into the playoffs at Morecambe’s expense. Yet again, it was us and them with one playoff place up for grabs. History couldn’t repeat itself, however. Jefferson Louis’ red card hardly helped as defeat at Forest Green ended our promotion hopes. In the mid-1990s, a combination of fixture backlog and rising end of season tension saw us play on 29 April for three successive seasons. The first doesn’t need too much dwelling on. The second – our 1-0 win over the Daggers – came two days after we’d secured the Conference title with a draw at home to Morecambe. The third was a 2-1 away win at Altrincham; ending a run of two straight draws. But it was too little too late as far as our title defence was concerned. A patchy run of form after losing to title rivals Macclesfield Town in late March had ultimately cast the die. It would also be our final victory of that season; losing on the final day at Halifax Town.

1989 Stevenage Borough 2-0 Hemel Hempstead Town, Vauxhall Opel League Division Two North (Williams 2)

1995 Stevenage Borough 0-1 Runcorn, GM Vauxhall Conference

1996 Stevenage Borough 1-0

Dagenham & Redbridge, GM Vauxhall Conference (Barrowcliff)

1997 Altrincham 1-2 Stevenage

Borough, GM Vauxhall Conference (Hayles 2)

2000 Nuneaton Borough 0-1 Stevenage Borough, Nationwide Conference (Martin)

2006 Forest Green Rovers 2-0

Stevenage Borough, Nationwide Conference (Louis s/o)

2017 Yeovil Town 1-1 Stevenag e, Sky Bet League Two (McQuoid)

IT’S GRIMSBY TOWN AGAIN…

In the grand scheme of things, Boro’ should be more than happy with a return of six wins from 11 previous meetings with the Mariners. Out of the remaining five, our guests this afternoon have only won a couple. Heck, we even came away from our home league encounter during the dreadful 2019-20 campaign with three points.

The last time we met here, however, was October 2020 and it ended in a goalless draw. While Boro’ are unbeaten at home against the Mariners, that stalemate ended an otherwise perfect record at the Lamex. Time to get that back…

MAGIC MOMENT:

19 August 2017 – Sky Bet League Two

After two draws and a League Cup exit away to Millwall, Boro’ registered their first win of the 2017-8 campaign with this two-goal victory over the Mariners. It could’ve been different, though, but for a slightly contentious moment on the half-hour mark; Joe Fryer spilling a Luke Summerfield free-kick, with some visitors thinking it crossed the line. The ref said no and, seven minutes later, Boro’ went ahead. Danny Newton earned himself a bit of space in the area, before lifting a clever dink over the visitors’ goalkeeper to put us ahead. Even better for us would be the fact we’d go into half time with a two-goal advantage as Jonathan Smith stabbed home as the half edged towards stoppage time. Just before the hour mark, the Mariners were reduced to 10 men when Sam Jones saw red following an off-the-ball. And if Boro’ couldn’t make it any better for ourselves, Ben Kennedy curled home a delightful effort on 65 minutes to virtually

seal the points. We’d have rather avoided the late Danny Collins consolation. But you can’t have it all.

First win of the 2017-8 campaign. Last win of the 2022-3 campaign. You’d take it, wouldn’t you?

ON BOTH SIDES…

It’s not all that common for a player to have both Stevenage and Grimsby Town on their CV. Out of those that do, it feels like there is a trend towards forward players having done so; Anthony Elding, Jamille Matt, and Peter Winn the more notable names to feature on that particular list. Our list of players to play for both sides from our earlier times may well be incomplete. But, of the 13 names left we can trawl through that we know of, six of them play in attacking positions – including Tony Thorpe and Isaiah Rankin. Three more are goalkeepers. But only one, to our knowledge, was a defender (Andrew Fox).

By Pete Hayman courtesy of boroguide.co.uk

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ACADEMY

Good afternoon. What a day to be a Stevenage FC family member, I will be sitting in the stands as a fan today and cheering us on. Today truly could be a wonderful day. Good luck to the gaffer and his team in this afternoon’s last home game of the season. Our U18’s are away to Gillingham this morning before hopefully rushing back and sharing the atmosphere. I have mentioned before, this season has been so enjoyable for many different reason but today’s focus is on the first team!

Hopefully, this will be my last programme notes of the season, and I want to thank every single player, parent and everyone associated to our academy. There has been so much effort gone in from everyone and I am truly humbled and thankful for them. We have seen so much change around the club and not only in the academy but coming into work everyday to represent our club is something I love doing, I share the day to day work with some excellent colleagues and without them we wouldn’t have made the strides we have made.

Our official season ends next weekend when we host Luton as well as our annual Lamex Cup which we hope will be bigger and better than last year, we already have more teams and expect

a large turn out. Our school boys programme also ends this weekend as we play Norwich City FC. A great way for our 9-14 school boys to finish of the season against a Cat 1 side. Finally, lets get behind the team/club today!!

Come on boro!!

JORDEN GIBSON Academy Manager

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WOMEN

STEVENAGE FCW 2

O’ Brien, Farmer, Neal (c), Price, Nebbitt, Bodily, Greenwood, Schofield, Millen, Makewell, Wodhams

Subs: Ray, Shephard, Gooderham, Webster, Bellinger

Goals: Neal, Gooderham

ROYSTON TOWN 2

Martin, Fox-Barker, A. Georgiou, Straver, Miller, Houghton, Smith, South, Croucher, Mills, Josland

Subs: Bourne, Page, Holt, Charter, Hendricks

Goals: Josland, Miller

ACeline Ray save from the penalty spot saw Stevenage FCW lift their fifth County Cup, as a crowd of 507 were treated to a match for the ages in their 8th successive final appearance, second only behind Watford Ladies.

However, this game was all about Stevenage and Royston. Two teams who had met each other three times before this season and with 16 goals scored between them, the one thing that appeared to be guaranteed was a glut of goals.

This was not immediately forthcoming. Both sides, understandably, were apprehensive and worked hard to keep the ball, while probing for a killer ball forward. It was Royston who were first to break the line successfully, but Laura Mills shot was dragged wide.

Stevenage worked to create chances of their own, without ever really testing Amy Martin in goal. The shot stopper did turn around a Holly Greenwood shot from distance, but it was creeping wide, which is where the tireless Kelsey Millen’s shot went minutes later after latching onto a

ball over the top that bamboozled Amy Houghton.

Greenwood had the best chance of the half when Millen dragged a ball back across the penalty area for her to strike, but her touch let her down this time and she couldn’t get the shot off to give Boro’ the lead.

Instead, it was Royston who took the lead with ten minutes of the half remaining as a Stevenage legend, Amy Josland, lifted the ball over Mia O’Brien and into the net. AJ had made 143 appearances for Boro’, the second most of all time, but this moment was a bittersweet one for many watching as she tucked away her second goal of the season.

Royston finished the half strongly with efforts from Annie Georgiou and Poppy Smith sent narrowly over the bar. With three changes made at half-time, it took just ten minutes for Stevenage to draw level.

It was a scene that repeat viewers of the club will have seen play out regularly.

Becky Shephard, one of the trio of substitutes, took the corner, which was earned from excellent endeavour by Amy Makewell. The delivery was sent perfectly to the far post, where Vicky Neal powered home yet another header for the ninth goal of her Boro’ career.

Buoyed by the goal, Stevenage took control of the tie. Rosy Wodhams saw her effort turned wide after Shephard’s free kick was punched clear and Neal headed wide. Royston, to their credit, rode out the onslaught and battled back into the game. Mills saw her effort expertly palmed over the bar by O’Brien, who moments later held onto a low driven shot that, if parried, would have left a tap in.

Nicole Hendricks had the best opportunity of the half for Royston as the ball was worked in from the right and into space, but her effort flew narrowly over the bar.

As full time drew nearer, Wodhams had a superb burst of pace down the right and with a sight of goal, unselfishly played in her attackers. Makewell, Amy Gooderham and Shephard all had a snatch at it, but none could test Martin.

Penalties loomed large and the 89th minute saw Laura Mills go to ground as Lucy Webster sent a tantalising ball for Gooderham to chase. She did so and in the muddle of Gooderham and Martin the ball came loose and fell kindly for the Boro’ forward to calmly slot the ball home into an unguarded net. Cue scenes of delirium from the red half of the watching faithful.

Royston simply refused to give in and pushed until the very end. After a booking for Hendricks, there was still time for one more attack in the fifth minute of three added on. Georgia Miller it was who took advantage of the long ball and slotted the ball home before running the entire length of the pitch to celebrate with family. Cue scenes of delirium from the black and white half of the watching faithful. With the game surely ending upon kickoff, Boro’ made a change straight out of the Louis Van Gaal playbook as Celine Ray replaced the excellent O’Brien in goal. The whistle blew and penalties were upon us. “I was ready from the start,” the young keeper said afterwards. “Anything can happen in a game and you need to come on. I was buzzing at 2-2”

Jodie Bellinger and Houghton started the contest well with two fabulous penalties. Royston stole the advantage however, when Nicole Farmer, who has been deadly from set pieces recently, saw her effort saved. Gemma Croucher, Gooderham,

Ailish Straver – a scorer from last year’s final, and Becky Shephard all completed the assignment successfully before Miller, a hero moments before, saw her powerful effort crash off the bar and back towards her. A cruel blow, but yet, the game was only in penalties at all thanks to her.

Birthday girl Emily Schofield converted her penalty alongside Char South and the tie entered sudden death. Neal stepped up and sent her ball roughly where her header landed and piled all the pressure onto Royston who had to score. Becky Charter stepped up and sent the ball low to Ray’s left, which was where the ‘keeper smothered the ball before sprinting off to celebrate.

It was a cruel way for such a hard-fought battle to end, and a way that has only happened once before in the previous twenty-two County Cup finals when Berkhamsted Ladies defeated Watford in the second ever final in 2001. Interim Manager Dave Perry was delighted afterwards, “Royston gave us a good game, they hung in there and we had to work hard. It’s not a nice way to win on penalties, I don’t like it myself, but it is how it ends and I couldn’t be happier with how we played today.”

FOUNDATION

A massive thank you also goes to Stevenage FC Women’s players, Lucy Webster and Nicole Cooper for coming down to our Girls Only Camp for a player visit. They took part in a Q&A and a few games with the Girls who really enjoyed the visit with plenty of smiles on show! Also a big thank you to Danny Rose, who came and did a player visit for our Stevenage Camps during the first week!

EASTER ROUND UP! Holiday Camps

Stevenage FC Foundation enjoyed their busiest Easter yet as it proved to be an incredibly successful holiday provision over the two weeks.

A total of 1,371 participants were involved with our holiday provision at Easter! There were 469 participants at a Soccer camp, 285 on a HAPpy camp and 705 on one of our Fit, Fed and Read Camps. Within that number, 902 were provided with a hot meal, courtesy of our friends at the George and Dragon, Graveley.

Youth Hub

In partnership withStevenage Borough Council and #buildinglifechances, we ran our first Youth Hub for 11-16 year olds! Our first three sessions were located at Everyone Active and Boom Battle Bar where we delivered free sport provision and safe spaces for young people! Our sessions run every half term so be sure to keep an on our socials for more information!

Girls’ fixtures

We were also delighted to have fixtures for our Girls Talent Pathway throughout the half-term. Our Emerging Talent Centre girls travelled to Colchester, where we faced Colchester & Peterborough. We then hosted our Girls Development Centre at the Priory School, Hitchin, against Colchester. Throughout all age groups our girls performed incredibly and represented the Foundation brilliantly.

MATCHDAY ROUND UP

As we approach the final home game of the season it’s time to look at our fan engagement highlights this season. Throughout the duration of the season, we’ve had 54 mascots, who have all been incredible, providing the team with good luck and having plenty of pictures with the players. Watching the mascots meet their heroes in the changing room is a highlight of the season for us. We’ve had some amazing feedback across the season with mascots, with two examples of the feedback we’ve had given below.

“He had the BEST time on Friday and hasn’t stopped talking about it since. Sincerely, thank you so much!! The work you do with the children is just fantastic!! They are the future of the club and experiences like this shape the years ahead and really get them hooked!! He will remember this day forever and it meant so much to him. I would not hesitate to recommend this experience to other parents and their children too! Keep up the amazing work!” –

Dan Roach

“It was certainly an experience and day that will live with him for a lifetime...

I would like to thank you and all the tremendous staff that made his day so special, he was already a Stevenage fan but now I think he will be stuck like me coming week after week for life...it just shows what an amazing family-based club we are and that’s down to people like yourself.” – Chris Searle

Likewise, our Matchday experiences have yet again been incredibly popular throughout the season, with 38 bronze, 33 silver & 2 gold packages.

We are continuously working with the DSLO, SLO & club to make Stevenage FC more inclusive where football is for all, and I think many of us will never forget Archie leading the teams out with Carl Piergianni at the Tranmere Game in February. What an incredibly special moment.

As well as this, we love to support our community as much as possible, and being able to do this alongside the club, staff and players is s a real benefit. This was proven when TVC gave his shirt to a young mascot and took time to see him during half-time at a game to present him with a goodie bag as well, during a tough time for the young mascot and his family. Our Kidszone has grown throughout the season with more activities available and has always been a popular busy place pre-match each game!

Finally, a huge thank you to the incredible SFCF staff who have worked hard each matchday to help the club provide first class fan engagement experiences. What a season it’s been on and off the pitch.

WELCOME

gtfc.co.uk

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE SQUAD LIST

FORM GUIDE

Good news for Boro as we welcome a Grimsby side with nothing to play for and out of form? Well not exactly! Indeed the Mariners sit fourth in the form table with 10 points from their past five games, a run which has seen just one defeat.

Boro have a very similar record, also with 10 points, and both teams have had similar seasons elsewhere, the visitors having an even better cup run than Boro as they beat Southampton 2-1 away to reach the quarter finals before losing 5-0 to Brighton at The Amex in the last eight. They reached this round for the first time since 1939 and were the first side ever to beat five teams from a higher league in the competition.

Indeed if you scratch below the surface they also suffered a cup hangover like the hosts as they failed to notch a win in five after their FA Cup exit, losing two and drawing three in a run which put paid to any faint play-off hopes. With away form slightly better than their home exits, Boro need to be very much on their guard if they are hoping to gain the three points needed for automatic promotion today.

LAST 5 SEASONS

ONE TO WATCH:

Gavan Holohan, 31, signed for the Mariners in March 2022 and signed a contract until the summer of 2024 when the Mariners agreed terms for his transfer from Hartlepool United. The midfielder scored 11 times in 45 appearances during the 2020/21 campaign, helping Hartlepool United secure their place back in the Football League.

Holohan made it two promotions in two seasons, helping the Mariners secure their spot back in the EFL at the first time of asking at the end of the 2021/22 campaign.

started as joint manager before leading them to the National League title in 2016 via the play-offs. After a move to Shrewsbury, on 30 December 2020, Paul Hurst and Chris Doig returned to Grimsby, signing 30 month contracts until June 2023 and replacing Ian Holloway who had resigned seven days earlier amid talks of a potential takeover.

MEET THE BOSS:

Renowned defender Paul Hurst played almost his entire career at Rotherham where he made just shy of 450 appearances.

His management career began at Ilkeston and Boston and his connection with Grimsby started in 2011 when he

They were unable to stop the Mariners from dropping out of the Football League but it took just a season to return, promoted back after beating all three opponents in extra time, beating Notts County 2–1 at Meadow Lane in the eliminator before a 5–4 semi-final victory away at Wrexham and in the 2022 National League play-off final at the London Stadium, the Mariners defeated Solihull Moors 2–1.

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JULIE HEMINGWAY –84 TODAY!

Julie has lived in Stevenage since 1961, when she married Keith (both pictured). She follows Stevenage FC avidly, and is celebrating her 84th birthday at today’s match against Grimsby, hoping for a win.

Julie is attending with her son, Ian, and grandsons, Byron and Miles, who are all keen supporters too. Promotion today would be the icing on the proverbial cake for Julie.

SUPPORTERS’ ASSOCIATION

LATEST NEWS

WELCOME

The Mariners are in town. So, it’s a big Boro welcome to Harry Haddock and all his mates this afternoon. A special welcome to Kristine Green. Kristine is a die-hard Grimsby fan who represents the club on the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA). She is also a club SLO and of this year is a board director.

LAST HOME GAME OF THE SEASON

It has been our tradition to hold the annual SA player awards immediately after the last home game of the season. This year is no different. SA members have been voting on-line for their Player of the Year, and it will be my honour to present the winner with his trophy in front of all his team-mates and supporters.

I need to emphasise that this is a Supporters’ Association function, and that SA members will have priority access into the Broadhall Suite to ensure that safety capacity isn’t breeched.

LAST HOME GAME?

I do hope so. At the time of writing, we have but one more game to play – away to Barrow. However, the situation at the top of our league is so close that it could “go down to the wire” to be certain of an automatic play-off place. Let’s hope it’s us.

BARROW

This game could be absolutely crucial to us, so let’s make sure we have a big turnout at Holker Street next Saturday. To ensure that we do, we’ve HALVED the price of our bus – from £40 to just £20. It could be our most important game in years. Who of you will come to Barrow? Get thee there with Boro the Bear.

The game has been scheduled to commence at 12.30pm. This means that the bus must leave Stevenage no later than 04.30am. “That’s the middle of the night” I hear you cry. Err, yes it is, but necessary I’m afraid. It’s going to be a long day out, but

worth it if Steve and the lads can secure promotion on the day. Go online to book your seat HERE

NOTE: All Under 16’s must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

FIFTY YEARS AGO

On this week in 1973, the “new” railway station was nearing completion, former Stevenage Town youngster Paddy Powell signed for Charlton, and The Pyramid Pub (now the Times Club) in The Oval, opened. Stevenage Athletic also beat two Welsh teams here at Broadhall Way. On the Saturday, Merthyr Tydfil lost 2-0 whilst during the week Barry were beaten 3-1. The game against Barry was the last home game of the season and the team comprised Gevaux, Keirs, Hull, Parkinson, Dingwall, Pyatt, Whishaw, Turner, Coates, Richardson and Spillane. Athletic finished 17th (out of 22) in the Southern League Div.1 North. An end-of-season fund raising event occurred in the club house with the attached photo depicting (L to R) Frank McLintock (Arsenal), Jack Chisolm (ex-Spurs & Brentford), Bill Coldwell (Stevenage Manager) and Jimmy Burton (Stevenage Chairman).

LLOYD BRISCOE

Chair - Stevenage FC Supporters’ Association

HERE’S A I BET YOU DIDN’T KN

FIXTURES & RESULTS 2022/23

LEAGUE TABLE

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‘LOVE FOOTBALL. PROTECT THE GAME’

A message about anti-social and criminal behaviour

To mark the new season, we want to make you aware of new measures being taken across all of football to ensure everyone can have a safe and enjoyable experience. We are supporting strong action from the FA, Premier League and EFL to tackle anti-social and criminal behaviours that put all of us at risk.

This reflects the seriousness of the risks to fans and staff – pyros can burn at 2000 degrees Celsius and cause lifechanging injuries, while entering the pitch endangers players, managers and match officials.

We know those who commit these illegal acts do not represent the majority of supporters.

#LoveFootball #ProtectTheGame

ANYONE WHO ENTERS THE PITCH WITHOUT PERMISSION AND THOSE CARRYING OR USING SMOKE BOMBS OR PYROS WILL NOW RECEIVE AN AUTOMATIC CLUB BAN.

GRIMSBY TOWN FC